Finding aid for the Wim Swaan photograph collection, 1951-1995
Lynda Bunting and Alina Sinetos.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Wim Swaan photograph collection
Date (inclusive): 1951-1995
Number: 96.P.21
Creator/Collector:
Swaan, Wim
Physical Description:
60 Linear Feet
150 boxes
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
reference@getty.edu
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10020/askref
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: A comprehensive collection of
approximately 48,000 photographic prints, transparencies, slides and negatives in
black-and-white and color by a self-taught photographer and practicing architect who
traveled widely, documenting the art, architecture, and landscape of the Middle East,
Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Western United States. Also included are a small
quantity of correspondence with publishers, agents, colleagues and friends, sales accounts,
a manuscript, research notes, and a copy of his master's thesis.
Request Materials: Request access to the physical materials
described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this
collection. Click here for the
access policy .
Language: Collection material is in
English
Biographical/Historical Note
1927: Born Willem Albertus Swaan September 6 in Kokstad, South Africa.
1950: Bachelor of Architecture, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
1950-1951: Travelled in Europe and Egypt. Worked for Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew in London on
the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
1952-1960: Returned to South Africa. Worked for Andrews and Niegeman in Cape Town. Moved to
H. H. Le Roith and Partners, Johannesburg, first as an employee, later as partner in charge
of design. Projects: apartment buildings, schools, industrial and commercial buildings.
1958: Master of Architecture, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Thesis:
"Low-cost housing: a survey of economic and sub-economic housing for the lower-income groups
with special reference to housing European families with children in South Africa," written
while Swaan worked as a full-time architect for Le Roith and Partners. Later attended the
Yale School of Organization and Management and the Harvard University Graduate School of
Design.
1959-1960: Studied Zen Buddhism and researched Japanese architecture and landscape design
at Chotokuin Zen Temple, Kyoto.
1960: Emigrated to London.
1961: Traveled extensively in Southeast Asia, Iran and the Middle East.
1963: Moved to the United States.
1963-1966: Joined Perkins and Will Architects, New York.
1966: Became a United States citizen.
1966-1968: Sabbatical in Europe.
1971-1972: Eighteen-month tour of Europe.
1972-1981: Partner at Perkins and Will.
1975-1981: Vice President at Perkins and Will.
1979: Elek Books Ltd. sold to Granada Publishing. Published only one other book after this
point.
1981: Director of Health Facilities Planning in Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum's New York
office. Oversaw the new Veterans Administration Hospital, Manhattan, addition, and other
large health facilities located throughout the United States.
1990: Received a special citation from the American Institute of Architects for
distinguished achievement as a historian and photographer of the art and architecture
created by diverse cultures throughout the world.
1994: Retired as Director of Design at Architecture for Health, Science and Commerce,
Tarrytown, NY.
1995: Died October 1 of pulmonary fibrosis.
Administrative Information
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Wim Swaan photograph collection, 1951-1995, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute,
Accession no. 96.P.21
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa96p21
Acquisition Information
Gift of the Willem A. Swaan Estate, received 1996. One binder of images of Latin American
sites received in 1999. One box of images of Latin American sites received in 2000.
Processing History
Lynda Bunting processed the collection and created the finding aid in 1998. Alina Sinetos
reprocessed portions of the collection and revised the finding aid in 2015.
Digitized Material
Separated Material
The following books were transferred to the library: Nims, C.F.
Thebes of
the Pharaohs
. London: Elek Books Limited, 1965.
Swaan, Wim.
Lost Cities of Asia: Ceylon, Pagan, Angkor. London: Elek Books Limited,
1966.
Tucci, Giuseppe.
Tibet. London: Elek Books Limited,
1967.
Hambly, Gavin.
Cities of Mughul India: Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur
Sikri
. London: Elek Books Limited, 1968.
Anderson, William.
Castles of Europe: From Charlemagne to the Renaissance. London: Elek
Books Limited, 1970.
Swaan, Wim.
The Late Middle Ages.
London: Elek Books Limited, 1977 (2 copies).
Pollitt, J.J.
Art in
the Hellenistic Age
. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
Brooke, Christopher and Roger Highfield.
Oxford &
Cambridge
. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Scope and Content of Collection
A comprehensive collection of photographs, approximately 34,450 black-and-white negatives,
contact prints and enlargements and approximately 13,450 color transparencies, slides and
prints by a self-taught photographer and practicing architect who traveled widely and
published many large-format books devoted to the art and architecture of various cultures.
Included are a small quantity of correspondence with publishers, agents, colleagues and
friends, sales statements, research notes, a manuscript, and a copy of his master's
thesis.
Most images, taken in situ between 1951-1995, reflect Swaan's interest in facades,
architectural details and decoration. Main concentrations include Gothic, Medieval, Baroque
and Renaissance Europe, Islamic Spain and Morocco, Turkey, Egypt and Iran, Ancient Egypt and
Greece, Asia, including India, Pakistan, Tibet, Nepal, Japan, Cambodia and Sri Lanka,
Pre-Columbian and Colonial Latin America, and the landscape of the American West.
Arrangement note
The collection is arranged in three series: ; ; .Series I. Book projects, 1963-1995
Series II. Other
photographs, 1951-1995
Series III. Papers, 1958-1995
Indexing Terms
Subjects - Corporate Bodies
University of Cambridge
University of Oxford
Subjects - Topics
Decoration and ornament, Architectural
Medici, House of
Mayas -- Antiquities
Monasteries -- Europe
Landscape photography -- West (U.S.)
Extinct cities -- Mexico
Extinct cities -- Asia, Southeastern
Hundred Years War, 1339-1453
Decoration and ornament, Islamic
Architecture -- Pictorial works
Architecture -- Europe
Architecture -- Byzantine -- Istanbul
Architecture -- Middle East
Architecture -- Latin America
Architecture, Medieval
Architecture, Rococo
Architecture,Islamic
Architecture -- Asia
Acropolis (Athens, Greece)
Architecture, Baroque
Architecture, Gothic -- Europe
Architecture, Hellenistic
Art, Medieval
Art, Hellenistic
Art, Flemish
Cathedrals -- Europe
Castles -- Europe
Subjects - Places
Copán Site (Honduras)
Tikal Site (Guatamala)
Tiwanaku Site (Bolivia)
Usfahan (Iran)
Mogul Empire
Mecca (Saudi Arabia)
Persepolis (Iran) -- Antiquities
Nepal -- Antiquities
Thebes (Egypt : Extinct city)
Susa (Extinct city) -- Antiquities
South Africa -- Pictorial works
San Agustín (Huila, Columbia) -- Antiquities
Tibet (China) -- Antiquities
Japan -- Social life and customs
Istanbul (Turkey) -- Antiquities
Machu Picchu Site (Peru)
Europe -- Pictorial works
Asia -- Antiquities
Genres and Forms of Material
Color transparencies
Contact prints
Photographs, Original
Gelatin silver prints
Diffusion transfer prints
Color slides
Black-and-white prints (photographs)
Contributors
Swaan, Wim
Series I.
Book projects,
1963-1995
Physical Description:
circa 42 linear
feet
Scope and Content Note
Series I contains a nearly complete set of photographs for Swaan's entire book
production, consisting of 18 publications, four unfinished projects, and one project in
progress at the time of his death. Most projects contain black-and-white prints, color
transparencies and slides, black-and-white contact prints, and black-and-white
negatives. Additionally, a small number of projects include Swaan's notes, and the files
for the book
Japanese lantern include the manuscript draft.
Arrangement note
Projects are arranged chronologically by publication date. Within individual boxes,
photographic materials used for publication are arranged in plate number order;
materials not used for publication and contact sheets are generally arranged
geographically.
Mecca the Blessed, Madinah the Radiant,
1963
Scope and Content Note
Swaan was not the principal photographer for this book.
box 1, folder 1
Black-and-white photographs used for publication plates
box 67, folder 1
Color transparencies used for publication plates
box 1, folder 2-3
Photographs used for publication plates
box 1, folder 4
Photographs used in publication (non-plates)
Photographs not used in publication
box 67, folder 2
Transparencies used for publication plates
box 67, folder 3
Transparencies not used in publication
Constantinople from Byzantium to Istanbul,
1965
box 4, folder 1-2
Photographs used for publication plates
box 4, folder 3-4
Photographs not used in publication
box 68, folder 2
Transparencies used for publication plates
box 68, folder 3
Duplicates of transparencies
box 4, folder 6
Photographs used for publication plates
box 4-5
Photographs not used in publication
box 5, folder 6
Contact prints
Scope and Content Note
Includes one sheet of contact prints labeled "Philippines".
box 53-54
Manuscript draft
Scope and Content Note
Contains many ink drawings.
Thebes of the Pharaohs,
1965
box 6, folder 2-3
Photographs used for publication plates
box 6-7
Photographs not used in publication
box 71, folder 1
Transparencies used for publication plates
box 71, folder 2
Transparencies and slides not used in publication
Isfahan, Pearl of Persia,
1966
box 8, folder 1-2
Photographs used for publication plates
box 8, folder 3
Photographs of objects in museum collections
box 8, folder 4-5
Photographs not used in publication and duplicates
box 8, folder 6
Contact prints
Scope and Content Note
Images of Afghanistan, Iran, Damascus (Syria), and Egypt.
box 73, folder 1
Transparencies and slides used for publication plates
box 73, folder 2
Transparencies of objects in museum collections
Lost Cities of Asia: Ceylon, Pagan, Angkor
1966
Selected digitized images from Lost Cities of Asia: Ceylon, Pagan, Angkor:
1966
Scope and Content Note
Production materials for the publication
Lost Cities of Asia: Ceylon, Pagan,
Angkor
. Primarily images, both published and unpublished, that document the
ancient art and architecture of present-day Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia and
Thailand. Unpublished images also include content that falls outside the scope of the
subject of the publication, such as the Grand Palace in Bangkok and wooden houses in
rural areas of Thailand.
box 9, folder 3
Photographs used for publication plates
box 9, folder 4
Photographs used in publication (non-plates)
Photographs not used in publication
box 73, folder 4
Slides and transparencies used for publication plates
box 74, folder 1
Slides not used in publication
Age of Plantagenet and Valois,
1967
Scope and Content Note
Swaan was not the only photographer for this project.
box 11, folder 1
Photographs used for publication plates
box 11, folder 2
Photographs not used in publication
box 26, folder 1-5
Contact prints
Scope and Content Note
Filed with contact prints for
Castles of Europe: From Charlemagne to the
Renaissance
(1970).
box 90
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Filed with black-and-white negatives for
Castles of Europe: From
Charlemagne to the Renaissance
(1970).
box 74, folder 3
Color transparencies used for publication plates
Morocco: Marrakesh, Fez, Rabat,
1967
Selected digitized images from Morocco: Marrakesh, Fez, Rabat: 1967
Scope and Content Note
Production materials for the publication
Morocco: Marrakesh, Fez,
Rabat
. Primarily images, both published and unpublished, that document the
art and architecture of Morocco. Unpublished images also include views of cities not
listed in the publication title, such as Salé, Rissani and Meknès.
box 11, folder 3-4
Photographs used for publications plates
box 11, folder 5-6
Photographs not used in publication
box 75, folder 1
Transparencies and slides used for publication plates
box 75, folder 2-3
Transparencies and slides not used in publication and
duplicates
box 12, folder 3
Photographs used for publication plates
box 12, folder 4
Photographs not used in publication
box 77, folder 1
Transparencies used for publication plates
box 77, folder 2
Transparencies and slides not used in publication and
duplicates
Cities of Mughul India: Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur
Sikri
,
1968
Selected digitized images from Cities of Mughul India: Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur
Sikri,: 1968
Scope and Content Note
Production materials for the publication
Cities of Mughul India: Delhi, Agra
and Fatehpur Sikri
. Primarily images, both published and unpublished, that
document the art and architecture of the Mughal periods in India. Unpublished images
also include content that falls outside the scope of the subject of the publication,
such as government buildings in New Delhi and buildings designed by Le Corbusier and
Pierre Jeanneret in Chandīgarh.
box 12, folder 6-7
Photographs used for publication plates
Photographs not used in publication
box 14, folder 1
Photographs of objects in museum collections
box 77, folder 4
Transparencies and slides used for publication plates
box 77-78
Transparencies, slides and prints not used in publication
Flemish Cities, Their History and Art,
1969
Scope and Content Note
Swaan is credited as the primary photographer for this book, but it also contains
many images by others.
box 14, folder 3
Photographs used for publication plates
box 14, folder 4-5
Photographs not used in publication
box 15, folder 1-2
Notes
Scope and Content Note
Includes handcopied excerpts from texts on Gothic architecture.
box 15-16
Photographs used for publication plates
Photographs not used in publication and duplicates
box 79, folder 3
Transparencies used for publication plates
Transparencies not used in publication and duplicates
Medici: A Great Florentine Family,
1969
box 20, folder 4-5
Photographs used for publication plates
box 21-22
Photographs not used in publication and duplicates
box 85, folder 2
Transparencies used for publication prints
box 85, folder 3
Transparencies not used in publication
Castles of Europe: From Charlemagne to the
Renaissance
,
1970
box 22-23
Photographs used for publication plates
Photographs not used in publication
box 24, folder 2-3
Belgium, Holland and Britain
box 25, folder 1
Germany, Austria and Switzerland
box 25, folder 2
Portugal and Czechoslovakia
box 25, folder 5-6
Duplicates of photographs
box 87, folder 1
Transparencies used for publication plates
box 87, folder 2
Transparencies not used in publication
Monastic World,
1974
Scope and Content Note
The repository does not have any of the the images used for color publication plates
for this project. Color plates lost by Granada Publishing. See Moira Johnston files in
Series III for letter dated 20 October 1982 which notes their loss.
box 27-29
Photographs used for publication plates
Scope and Content Note
Includes some alternate images.
box 29-30
Photographs not used in publication and duplicates
box 91, 93-94
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Boxes 93-94 contain the black-and-white negatives for three projects:
Monastic World,
Late Middle Ages, and
Baroque & Rococo Architecture and Decoration.
box 91, folder 1
Color transparencies not used in publication
box 30, folder 6
Handwritten index of publication plates
Late Middle Ages,
1977
Scope and Content Note
The repository does not have any of the black-and-white or color images used for
publication plates for this project. See Moira Johnston files in Series III for letter
dated 20 October 1982 which notes their loss.
Photographs not used in publication and duplicates
box 33, folder 6
Italy
Scope and Content Note
This country does not appear in the publication.
box 91, 93-94
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Some black-and-white negatives filed with those from
Monastic
World
in Box 91. Boxes 93-94 contain the black-and-white negatives for
three projects:
Monastic World,
Late Middle Ages,
and
Baroque & Rococo Architecture and Decoration.
box 92
Color transparencies not used in publication
Baroque & Rococo Architecture and Decoration,
1978
box 35-36
Photographs used for publication plates
Photographs not used in publication
box 37, folder 3-4
Central and Eastern Europe
Duplicates of photographs
box 38, folder 4
Central and Eastern Europe
box 93-94, 96-97
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Boxes 93-94 contain the black-and-white negatives for three projects:
Monastic World,
Late Middle Ages, and
Baroque & Rococo Architecture and Decoration.
box 95
Transparencies used for publication plates
box 95
Transparencies not used in publication
Lost Civilizations of America,
circa 1977-1981
Scope and Content Note
Materials related to an unfinished project.
box 39, folder 3
Notes and photocopies of articles
box 98-99, 149
Color transparencies and slides
Spanish Colonial Baroque in America,
circa 1978-1981
Scope and Content Note
Materials related to an unfinished project. Locations visited and photographed by
Swaan include Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Honduras and the
United States.
box 40, folder 1-8
Notes, photocopies of articles and shot lists
box 100-103
Color transparencies and slides
Hellenistic Art and Architecture,
circa 1978
Scope and Content Note
Materials related to an unfinished project.
box 45, folder 4
Duplicates of photographs
box 46, folder 1-3
Contact prints and photocopies of contact prints
Persepolis and Susa,
circa 1970s
Scope and Content Note
Materials related to an unfinished project.
box 8, folder 6
Iran
Scope and Content Note
Filed with contact prints for
Isfahan, Pearl of Persia.
box 46, folder 7
Museum objects at the Louvre
box 106, folder 3
Color transparencies and slides
Oxford and Cambridge,
1988
Scope and Content Note
The repository does not have any of the black-and-white or color images used for
publication plates for this project.
box 47, folder 3-6
Notes and photocopies of articles
box 48, folder 1-2
Photographs not used in publication and duplicates
box 48-49
Contact prints and photocopies of contact prints
box 107, folder 1
Color transparencies not used in publication and duplicates
Art and Architecture of Nepal,
circa 1995
Scope and Content Note
The repository does not have any of the black-and-white or color images used for
publication plates for this project. This project was in process at the time of
Swaan's death.
box 50-51
Photographs not used in publication and duplicates
box 109-110
Color transparencies and slides
box 55
Book jackets
Scope and Content Note
Many clipped.
Series II.
Other photographs,
1951-1995, bulk 1988-1995
bulk
Physical Description:
14.5 Linear
Feet
Scope and Content Note
Series II contains photographs not published in book format by Swaan of various
geographical regions. Coverage is extensive for Islamic Turkey and Egypt, Ancient Egypt,
India, Pakistan, the landscape of the American West, and stained glass. Some images of
sites in Turkey, Egypt and India duplicate those in Series I, which Swaan shot
approximately twenty five years earlier. Most images are represented only in color
transparencies and slides, and do not exist in printed form. A number of images were
held at photo stockhouses for commercial sale.
Arrangement note
Materials are arranged by photographic campaign in rough chronological order.
Photographic experiments,
circa 1964
Scope and Content Note
Materials documenting Swaan's experimentation with different techniques. Primarily
photographs taken in and around Swaan's first New York apartment in 1964.
box 56-59
Photographs
Scope and Content Note
Versos of many of the prints contain Swaan's annotations.
box 112
Color slides and transparencies
box 59, folder 2
Europe,
1951-1952
Scope and Content Note
Black-and-white contact prints.
South Africa,
circa late 1950s
Scope and Content Note
Images of early paintings and architecture, people types, landscape views, buildings,
and animals from various regions.
Greece (Acropolis),
circa early 1960s
Scope and Content Note
All images are black-and-white.
box 59, folder 5
Contact prints
Scope and Content Note
Noted on many of the sheets: "Negatives with Gordon Bishop".
New York, and Wyndover Woods,
circa 1964
Scope and Content Note
All images are black-and-white. Includes images of Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and
Flatiron Building.
box 59, folder 7
Portugal,
circa 1960s
Scope and Content Note
Black-and-white contact prints.
Miscellaneous,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Includes images of objects from the Marjorie Merriweather Post Russian Collection,
and of various locations in Europe, the Near East and the Far East.
box 114
Color slides and transparencies
box 110-111
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Black-and-white negatives filed with black-and-white negatives for
Art and
Architecture of Nepal
. See Series I, Boxes 110-111.
box 118-122
Color transparencies and slides
Scope and Content Note
Includes images of Agra, Sikandra, Fatehpur Sikri, Baria, Ajmer, Jaipur, Pushkar,
Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Ranakpur, Udaipur, Mt. Abu, Khajuraho, Delhi.
box 110-111
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Black-and-white negatives filed with black-and-white negatives for
Art and
Architecture of Nepal
. See Series I, Boxes 110-111.
box 117, 122
Color transparencies and slides
Egypt, Yemen, Damascus,
1990
box 123-129
Color transparencies and slides
Scope and Content Note
Boxes 128-129 contain mostly color slides of Islamic Egypt returned from the FPG
[Freelance Photographers Guild].
box 138-139
Negatives
Scope and Content Note
Includes some negatives from 1962.
Color transparencies and slides
box 61, folder 3-4
Uncontracted and non-book photographs,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Mix of all styles and periods.
box 61, folder 5-7
Contact prints not for Elek,
1968-1969, 1971-1972
Scope and Content Note
Mix of all styles and periods.
box 115-116
Stained glass,
1986
Scope and Content Note
Color slides and transparencies.
box 140, folder 1
England,
1994
Scope and Content Note
Color slides.
box 140-141
Italy,
1994-1995
Scope and Content Note
Color slides and some black-and-white negatives and contact prints. Swaan's last
photo expedition.
American landscape
1975-1995
Scope and Content Note
Mostly color slides and transparencies, with some black-and-white contact prints and
black-and-white negatives throughout.
box 142
Bermuda, Florida and Puerto Rico,
1975-1976
box 142
New Orleans plantation houses,
1977
box 142
New Mexico and Arizona,
1980, 1995
box 143
Yellowstone and the Tetons,
1982
box 143
Oregon and Colorado,
1983-1985
box 144
Alaska, Vancouver and Puget Sound,
1984
box 144
Death Valley and Southern States,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Includes images of Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina.
box 145
Colorado and California,
1982
box 147
Various places in the Eastern United States,
1988-1989
Scope and Content Note
Includes images of New York, Washington (D.C.), Pennsylvania, Virginia, Missouri,
and specifically Philadelphia, University of Virginia, Monticello, Station St.
Louis, and Amish Country.
Series III.
Papers,
1958-1995
Physical Description:
3 Linear
Feet
Scope and Content Note
Series III comprises correspondence, invoices, and permission requests for sales and
book projects. The letters between Swaan (photocopies) and his London agent are
interspersed with personal information. Also included are authorizations from
governments and cultural institutions for Swaan to photograph locations abroad, some
notes and the original copy of his two volume thesis.
Arrangement note
Materials are arranged by topic.
Camera Press Ltd. (represented Swaan's production that was not handled by
Elek),
1966-1995
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence and sales statements.
Moira Johnston (Swaan's London agent from 1981-1995 for photos in Elek
books),
1977-1994
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence, mostly business but some personal, contracts, sales statements.
box 63, folder 1-2
FPG (Freelance Photographers Guild) International,
1984-1995
Scope and Content Note
Lists of submitted photos, sales statements and correspondence.
box 63, folder 3
Les Editions Réalités,
1970
Scope and Content Note
Mostly correspondence.
box 63, folder 4
Cornell University Press/Harper & Row,
1977-1981
Scope and Content Note
Mostly invoices for book sales to Swaan.
Miscellaneous inquiries,
1968-1995
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence concerning reproductions and permission to publish.
box 64, folder 4
Miscellaneous financial documents,
1976-1979, 1987
Scope and Content Note
Includes expense accounts for various trips, a letter related to preparing taxes for
1976, and income from photography for the 1987 tax year.
box 64, folder 6
Authorizations (used)
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence that gives Swaan permission to photograph various sites.
box 64, folder 8
"The Armor of Light,"
1984-1985
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence with Meredith Lillich about a proposed book on stained glass. See
Series II, Boxes 115-116 for related color slides and transparencies.
box 64, folder 9
Latent Image (periodical),
1991-1992
Scope and Content Note
Notes.
box 64, folder 10
Working notebook,
undated
box 64, folder 11
Notes,
undated
Scope and Content Note
Handwritten translations of French phrases.
box 65-66
Master's thesis,
1958
Scope and Content Note
"Low-cost housing: a survey of economic and sub-economic housing for the lower-income
groups with special reference to housing European families with children in South
Africa". Submitted to the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, October 1958. 2
volumes.
